Bruges to Amsterdam - 10 days

Day 1: Bruges
Day 2: Bruges - Gent, 27 miles (43 km)
Day 3: Gent - Sas van Ghent - Middelburg, 30 or 33 mi. (48 or 53 km)
Day 4: Middelburg - Veere - Zierikzee, 25 or 33 mi. (40 or 53 km)
Day 5: Zierikzee - Willemstad - Dordrecht, 25 or 34 mi. (40 or 54 km)
Day 6: Dordrecht - Rotterdam - Delft, 20 or 30 mi. (33 or 48 km)
Day 7: Delft - Leiden, via Katwijk, 37 mi. (57 km) or via The Hague, 29 mi. (45 km) or direct from Delft, 20 mi. (32 km)
Day 8: Leiden - Haarlem, 24 mi. (39 km)
Day 9: Haarlem - Amsterdam, 29 or 36 mi. (47 or 58 km)
Day 10: Amsterdam departure after breakfast

*All distances are approximate. The above-planned itinerary is subject to change, even on very short notice,  due to changing wind and weather conditions and other unforeseen circumstances having to do with mooring requirements, docking location changes, lock repairs,  etc.

Day 1: Bruges
The crew will welcome you aboard with a complimentary drink. In the afternoon and evening, there will be time to enjoy the city of Bruges. This town is one the most beautiful of all Flemish cities. Its old center, which dates from the Middle Ages, is almost completely intact. Bruges was, in old times, a metropolis and center of commerce and art. Bruges historic center, with its numerous canals, is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Day 2: Bruges - Ghent, 27 miles (43 km)
During breakfast, the ship will bring you to Moerbrugge, where the touring begins, through the Belgium polders, partly along the Gent-Oostende canal. The city of Ghent is proud of its rich past but is much more than just a museum town. This lively city has numerous squares and cozy pubs and is an excellent mixture of medieval edifices, stylish shopping streets, splendid mansions, working-class quarters from the beginning of the 20th century which now often house students, and busy little squares where people eat out till the wee hours during the summer.

Day 3: Ghent - Sas van Gent - Middelburg, 30 or 33 mi. (48 or 53 km)
Today another sailing breakfast brings you to the former sea-locks of Ghent, Sas van Gent. While cycling through the spacious land and scattered villages, you may not even notice that you are crossing the Belgian-Dutch border. After arriving on the coastline you will take the ferry Breskens to Vlissingen (Flushing). Quiet country roads will take you into Middelburg. Middelburg became, after Amsterdam, the most important center for the Dutch East India Company. Middelburg played also an important role in the 17th-century slave trade.

Day 4: Middelburg - Veere - Zierikzee, 25 or 33 mi. (40 or 53 km)
Today you will enjoy a lovely ride. With the expanse of the sea and sky as your backdrop as you cycle to the delta of Rhine, Maas and Scheldt rivers. Although the different islands are now connected through the Delta Works and land reclamation after the big flood disaster of 1953,  they all have retained their own character. First, you visit charming Veere, a small historic harbor with old Scottish connections; the long trackers by bike, the shorter route begins in Veere. Both routes visit the storm barrier with Neeltje Jans, a raised sand flat to facilitate the construction of the barrier, that allows tidal inlets for maintaining the original water environment with oyster and mussel farming. Do not only marvel at the locks from up close but also the interior is worth seeing. The shorter track goes back to Beveland, gives a beautiful ride along the coast of the Eastern Scheldt, along fishing village Colijnsplaat with a reconstruction of a Celtic temple that was found here; and a spacy experience on the Sealand bridge, in the 60-ties the longest of Europe. The longer route continues via the storm barrier to island Schouwen, with fortress Burgh, along wetlands at the Scheldt banks with the lonely tower of disappeared Stompetoren and historic circular village Serooskerke. The Quo Vadis can be found in Zierikzee, dominated by the ‘Fat tower’; once a rich trading-port with a beautiful harbor and lots of monuments.

Day 5: Zierikzee - Willemstad - Dordrecht, 25 or 34 mi. (40 or 54 km)
Leaving Zeeland, the longer distance first leads to the Watersnoodmuseum or Flood Museum in Ouwerkerk. This is the "National Knowledge and Remembrance Centre for the Floods of 1953" and offers an in-depth picture of the events during and after the flood of 1953. It is housed in four large box-like structures, or caissons, that were used to close the last gap in the dikes after the bombings in World War II. What follows, is a beautiful tour on the open land on the island of Overflakkee, featuring Oude Tonge, a small watersports village badly impacted by the 1953 flood catastrophe. 305 people were buried in a mass grave near the dike just outside the village. The short trackers stay on board till St. Philips Island, and then start cycling on the fields of Brabant, along silent treelined dikes with old ribbonlike hamlets, a tiny lock settlement, and the lively small market town Dinteloord. Both groups converge in Willemstad, a small historical garrison town with fortifications symbolizing the old Dutch Republic.  As you enjoy your dinner, the Quo Vadis will navigate to the center of interesting Dordrecht, the oldest city of Holland.

Day 6: Dordrecht - Rotterdam - Delft, 20 or 30 mi. (33 or 48 km)
This morning both routes start with a beautiful ride through the Alblasserwaard, a fenland between rivers. The many inundations and the slowly sinking surface made water management essential in this fenland. Canals and ditches were dug and windmills were constructed.  Also on the agenda, there is a visit to a cheese farm where you can see how the Dutch produce their own cheese (and of course, taste the final product!) Via inland bike roads, you arrive to Kinderdijk, where 19 mills remain, standing at attention in impressive rows. You'll enjoy the lovely scenery of water and meadow birds. From Alblasserdam both routes go via the fast ferry to Rotterdam, the Dutch Manhattan with a skyline typified by the Erasmus bridge. If there is time we might visit the stunning market hall, the Rotterdam version of the Sistine Chapel; or despite the bombings of WWII, the late 19th-century Veerhaven, and old Delfshaven (Delft harbor) from where the Pilgrim fathers left. The short trackers will find the Quo Vadis nearby to sail to Delft. The long track continues passing the early modern Van Nelle factory and the historic bridge of Overschie. More towards Delft this route goes via the 17th-century gunpowder house in the water and the University campus with fine modern architecture. For late afternoon an appointment can be made to visit the Royal Delft (De Porceleyne Fles). Founded in 1635, De Porceleyne Fles (The Porcelain Jar) is the Netherlands ' most famous delft factory. Of the dozens of original 17th-century Dutch pottery makers, only De Porceleyne Fles remains in operation. The town of Delft is also famous for the painter Vermeer, and as headquarters of the Dutch liberator William of Orange.

Day 7: Delft - Leiden, via Katwijk, 37 mi. (57 km) or via The Hague, 29 mi. (45 km) or direct from Delft, 20 mi. (32 km)
Longer distance riders head for the coast, along sandy beaches, through small fishing towns Scheveningen and Katwijk, along the Atlantikwall, remains of 1900 miles long coastal fortifications built by the Nazi Third Reich.  The shorter tour leads to the government center of The Hague, with the International Court of Justice, the Panorama, the Royal art collection, huge parks, and fancy shopping streets, via the seaside town of Scheveningen and along luxurious Wassenaar villa quarters. An even shorter distance through meadowland and suburban parks gives more time for Leiden. The Quo Vadis waits at the gate to historic Leiden, known for the oldest Dutch university, a hidden castle, and memories of Rembrandt van Rijn and the Pilgrim Fathers. Leyten means ‘at the waters’, founded around 800 AD at the confluence of the Old Rhine, the Vliet and the Mare. 

Day 8: Leiden - Haarlem, 24 mi. (39 km)
Today you pass the fertile ‘geestgronden’, a zone behind the dunes with a natural mix of clay, peat, and sand, used in the horticultural fields, mostly for the bulb flowers. You pass several estates with stately country houses nestled in the woods. At the edge of the former vast Haarlemmer Lake stands the Cruquius, a gothic revival steam mill that once drained this lake. You can see it in operation, and there is a display of models that explain how the Dutch managed to keep their feet dry during the last millennium. Via a ferry transfer along the Spaarne river, you arrive in Haarlem to find the Quo Vadis in the historical center of Haarlem, with its lively and monumental Grote Markt, little palaces of bankers, and charming courtyards.

Day 9: Haarlem - Amsterdam, 29 or 36 mi. (47 or 58 km)
Today the longer route begins in the wildlands behind the sea dunes, followed by a stretch through the ‘polderland’ with tiny Spaarndam build around a lock, with the statue of the boy that prevented flooding. You may connect with the cyclists who have opted for the shorter route, continuing over high dikes with views of the Amsterdam harbor and passing historic villages with green wooden houses. You stop at the Zaanse Schans, a hamlet designed to show how people lived and worked in the past, dominated by windmills fully operating for different processings (one dating 1673) and original houses from the region; part of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. Via Ilperveld, a unique water park, you reach Amsterdam, where the Quo Vadis mores in front of the historical center.

Day 10: Amsterdam departure after breakfast

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On the Deluxe class ship, the Quo Vadis